Conundrum with Scooter Sale

[Gjwitt]

I've gotten myself in a pickle. (Please, cajole, jeer, taunt, troll me to your heart's content.) I purchased a bike in Penang, over a year ago, and rode it to Phuket. This year I took it up to Chiang Mai, and now I'm preparing to sell it. In all my research, I failed to realize the difficulty of selling an imported bike. I reckon this is largely because the concept is so stupendously idiotic, time consuming, and best avoided. (Funny enough, despite numerous check-points and even one minor crash where a cop assisted me, no one has ever questioned that my bike is Malaysian.) So here I am, with a week left in Chiang Mai, my exit plans all solidified, no plans to return this way in the immediate future, with a mighty fine *coughmalaysian* scooter that I have no further use for, and all the legalese and practicalities against me. Well, the bike is legally in my name -- it was purchased properly from a dealership in Penang.

 

Does anyone have any brilliant advice in this situation? Someone suggested I sell it for as cheap as possible to anyone willing to take it. That's certainly an option, but I'm curious if anyone has any other ideas.

[jackdd]

Did you legally import this bike into Thailand (paid tax, and so on) or did you just temporarily import it and failed to ever take it back out again?

[Gjwitt]

I imported it temporarily and unknowingly. At that time, I was just a frivolous traveler in SE Asia for the first time, thinking it would be fun to have my own scooter. No one ever questioned the scooter until I began preparations to sell it. So, yeah, the latter.

[jackdd]

Did you ever leave Thailand since then? You obviously broke the law by not taking it back out again, and in case they have this in their computer you this might come up in their computer when you leave Thailand the next time. On the other hand this is of course Thailand, so maybe it was just forgotten.

 

Your bike is basically equivalent to a bike without green book. If the price is low enough somebody will buy it, either to use it for spare parts or to ride it in their village.

I can't tell you how much less you get for a bike without a green book, maybe somebody else here has experience with it and can give you a number.

[STALINGRAD]

What do you want for it? I will be up north on 23 Feb.

[brokenbone]

a green book was once valued 60k,

but i lost closer to 100k after buying a bike

that the bike shop swore to be legal, he didnt even blush,

but when i was going to sell it it became clear the book was fake. i asked for refund but was offered a little over 1/3 of the value

to give it back. no way in hell i would have bought it if i had known it was fake book

Edited February 20, 2019 by brokenbone

[papa al]

good story